Exotic Chinese Firecracker – Intel Core i5-12490F Review with Gaming and Non-K Overclocking

1 - Overview and Specifications 2 - Non-K OC on Asus Maximus Z690 Apex 3 - Gaming-Performance and Efficiency vs. 12900KS 4 - Summary and Conclusion

Summary and conclusion

The fact that the smaller Alder Lake CPUs with fewer or even no E-cores are often more efficient and only slightly slower, especially in gaming, is actually nothing new. However, the i5-12490F is once again a particularly special variant of the 12th Intel Core generation, including Non-K OC, AVX512 and 2 MB extra cache, which I wanted to share with you.

But there is – many will have guessed – a catch, which is actually also obvious. Due to the exclusivity in the Chinese market, the CPU is extremely rare or very difficult to obtain in Europe, at least currently. While it is possible – with the help of Google Translate and concierge service providers acting as middlemen between Chinese merchants and shipping to the rest of the world – at the end of the day, the cost and effort probably exceeds the benefit.

1599 Chinese Yuan I paid for the chip on Taobao, plus handling and shipping to Germany for 63 Yuan and of course 19% import sales tax on top. All in all, it cost me around 230 Euros to finally hold the special “game weapon new CPU processor” in my hands after 30 days of world travel, rarity value included. For comparison: An i5-12500 is available in Germany for about 210 Euros, which is a bit cheaper and much less complicated.

However, you can definitely game with this CPU and the recycled Alder Lake C0 chip is also very efficient, so that you could probably even recoup the additional costs and the CO2 balance of the worldwide shipping by the power savings in the long run. So, if you are looking for a relatively cheap CPU for your LGA1700 base and happen to come across a good offer for the 12490F, you can grab it with a clear conscience. Maybe the CPU will be easier to buy on Ebay in a few months and DDR4 boards with external clocks might have made it to the market by then.